The Latest Headlines You Need To Know

With no end in sight to the partial government shutdown, and the possibility that 800,000 federal workers will miss another paycheck at the end of this week, the Trump Administration reported Monday that ‘unscheduled absences’ by TSA airport screeners hit 10 percent on Sunday, with that number jumping over the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, as security screeners continue to work without pay because of a battle between the President and Democrats in Congress over funding for a border wall. “TSA experienced a national rate of 10 percent of unscheduled absences compared to a 3.1 percent rate one year ago on the same weekday,” the Transportation Security Administration reported, again using the same language in a daily news release that “many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations.” The number of absent screeners had held around 6 percent much of last week, but the TSA reported the number of screeners not showing up for work as planned hit 7 percent on Friday, 8 percent on Saturday, and then 10 percent on Sunday. . @TSA says that 10 percent of its workforce had an 'unscheduled absence' Sunday, compared to just 3.1 percent on the same day last year; that means more than 3,000 TSA agents called off #GovernmentShutdown — Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) January 21, 2019 The TSA said in a news release that ‘99.9 percent of passengers waited less than 30 minutes’ to go through airport screening on Sunday. But on Saturday, excessive sick calls by TSA airport screeners forced officials at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to use emergency plans to deal with the lack of airport screeners, closing a major security checkpoint early at the airport. That major checkpoint for Southwest Airlines flights wasn’t closed for just a few hours – but remained shut down on Sunday and Monday as well, because of a lack of security screeners. “It is important to clarify that it is not unusual for TSA and BWI Marshall to open or close one of our security checkpoints,” the airport said in a written statement. “This will have minimal, if any, impact on passengers and no impact on airport operations,” the BWI statement read. . @TSA in collaboration with airport authorities &amp; servicing airlines will be exercising a contingency plan at @BWI_Airport due to excessive callouts. Checkpoint A will be closing at 5:35pm. Passengers should arrive early for evening flights. Contact airport &amp; airlines for updates — TSA (@TSA) January 19, 2019 Earlier this month, press reports of airport screeners calling in sick because of the government shutdown – and the lack of pay for screeners – was denounced as ‘fake news’ by a top Department of Homeland Security spokesman, as well as the White House. Like other federal workers, TSA screeners have been coming to work since the partial government shutdown started on December 22; they were paid as scheduled on December 29, but missed a check on January 11, and a second check may not be paid on January 25.

A 9-year-old boy driving an all-terrain vehicle crashed over the weekend, killing a 58-year-old passenger in Osceola County, the Florida Highway Patrol said. >> Read more trending news Troopers said the boy was trying to avoid another ATV Saturday on 8 Mile Ranch Road when the vehicle he was operating hit a brim and overturned onto Laura Bizzell, of Avon Park. The boy suffered minor injuries, but Bizzell died, according to the FHP. The other ATV driver, Samuel Christmas, 53, suffered minor injuries. Authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Two people were injured Sunday night after a police car struck them as they lay in a Florida roadway, apparently to watch the lunar eclipse, according to multiple reports. >> Read more trending news The incident happened just before midnight Sunday near the Apoxee Trail, a 2.5-mile nature trail in West Palm Beach, according to WPBF and city officials. A police officer was patrolling the trail Sunday in a Ford Explorer when he struck a man and a woman, both 24, while traveling 5 mph, WPEC and WPBF reported. At the time, the area was extremely dark, according to officials. Police told WPBF that investigators believe the pair was lying in the road to photograph and watch the super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, according to the news station. The officer who struck the pair, who was not identified, was placed on paid administrative leave as police investigate the incident, WPEC reported. Authorities continue to investigate.

Speaking at a commemoration of what would have been her father’s 90th birthday, Rev. Dr. Bernice King criticized the Trump administration Monday for misquoting her father’s works “to suit our own purposes.” >> Read more trending news King’s remarks were aimed at Trump’s border wall push and comments by Vice President Mike Pence, who during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said: “One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was ‘Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.” “You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process to become a more perfect union,” Pence said on the show. “That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on the Congress to do. Come to the table in the spirit of good faith. We’ll secure our border, we’ll reopen the government and we’ll move our nation forward.” >> Reflecting on MLK: 'The baddest brother of the 20th century' On Monday, during remarks at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Bernice King said: “If we really want to make real the promises of democracy, now is the time on this King holiday to stop quoting King out of context and misquoting him to suit our own purposes.” The Ebenezer audience applauded warmly. Bernice King also called for action on problems facing the country, ranging from the partial government shutdown affecting federal workers’ livelihood to the resurgence of white supremacist ideologies and voter access problems. “We are in a state emergency because of our humanitarian crises, and it’s not at our southern border,” she said. “The concern for human welfare is being threatened.” “When prejudice and bigotry are emboldened…. when schools continue to be unsafe spaces because of impotent gun control laws…. this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency,” King said. >> Delta contributes grant funding to re-open MLK national park During remarks at the service, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., called for reflection on King’s words, saying: “He often reminded us that what united us is far greater than what divides us.” The service came on the holiday weekend when the Martin Luther Jr. National Historical Park reopened to visitors after a closure due to the partial federal shutdown. The reopening was funded with the help of a $83,500 grant from Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. Reopened for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend through the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, are the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where King was co-pastor, the home where Martin Luther King Jr. was born, the park’s visitor center and historic Fire Station No. 6. “We ought to be concerned that the cradle of the civil rights movement is also the capital of income inequality in this country today,” said Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

A man was hospitalized Sunday after a police chase ended with him jumping off an overpass, according to officials. >> Read more trending news The incident started around 5 p.m. Sunday near 176th Street and Canyon Road in Spanaway when Pierce County deputies tried to stop a car that they say was being driven recklessly. Officials said the driver fled and police began a pursuit. During that time, the driver hit at least one vehicle, authorities said. The chase continued in the eastbound lanes of State Route 512 and onto the northbound lanes of State Route 167, where authorities said the suspect got caught up in traffic. Officials said the driver struck cars on an overpass. His car became so damaged it would no longer run, so he got out of the vehicle and jumped off the overpass, authorities said. Police said the driver fell at least 75 feet to the brush-covered ground below, near Valley Avenue East. Officials found him with multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung. He was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, where he underwent surgery, authorities said. The other people whose cars were hit suffered minor injuries, according to officials. Authorities said the suspect will face charges including eluding authorities and eight counts of hit-and-run. ﻿The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

Digging into the latest spats over President Trump and Russia

Posted: 8:40 pm Sunday, March 5th, 2017

By Jamie Dupree

It was no ordinary news weekend, as President Donald Trump leveled an extraordinary charge against former President Barack Obama, alleging that the feds had wiretapped Mr. Trump during the 2016 election. Democrats denounced the current President, and Republicans in the Congress openly said they had no idea what he was talking about.

Confused? Let’s see if we can clear up some of this:

1. President Trump says he was wiretapped by the Obama Administration. Without offering any evidence, the President began this weekend with an early Saturday morning series of tweets in which he made the astounding charge that President Obama had targeted him with surveillance during the 2016 campaign. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp (sic) my phones during the very sacred election process,” Mr. Trump wrote. “This is Nixon/Watergate.” The President then said that a court had turned down one effort to track him. How did he know this? By Sunday night, all signs pointed to conservative media, not a leak from within the FBI to the President himself.

WH officials with whom I spoke said POTUS got the info about wiretap from media – Breitbart, Levin – not from govt sources.

2. What were the Breitbart and Mark Levin stories all about? To better understand why the President reportedly was upset about this matter, let’s take a look at what media he evidently was consuming. The Breitbart story on Friday was simply a rundown of a television segment that conservative talk radio host Mark Levin had done last Thursday night, in which he tied together a number of different stories to conclude that the Obama Administration had obtained a secret intelligence warrant to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign, and then made sure that evidence was spread around the government. Levin labeled it a “silent coup.” Some might consider that conclusion to be a stretch. Watch it here:

3. But the story did not originate with Breitbart. It is important to note where this story came from – Louise Mensch, and her website Heat Street. Mensch is a former member of Parliament in Britain, who in recent months has made it her journalistic goal to expose wrongdoing of Mr. Trump and his allies. She was working hard this weekend to expand the story with the momentum from the Trump Twitter Tirade, but noted some discrepancies. “My own FISA story nowhere mentions a wiretap,” Mensch tweeted. Instead, Mensch says the U.S. investigation involves money laundering and a Russian bank that has been mentioned as having ties to Mr. Trump (Alfa Bank).

That's correct. There was as I reported a FISA warrant on any US person in relation to two Russian banks' comms https://t.co/GP4NgoNSH0

4. Team Trump & backers take aim at the “Deep State.” More and more on talk radio, and within strong supporters of President Trump, you are hearing criticism of the “Deep State.” There is no such thing, but the phrase basically refers to well established intelligence personnel that critics believe are doing all they can to leak information and undermine the Trump Administration – especially when it comes to the Russia-Trump investigation. Other terms include “silent coup” and “shadow government,” mainly accusing former President Obama and bureaucrats of trying to take back power from Mr. Trump, by using the tools of the U.S. Intelligence Community against him.

5. So, is there really a FISA warrant involving Trump? That depends on who you believe. The New York Times wrote it this way: “There is no confirmed evidence that the F.B.I. obtained a court warrant to wiretap the Trump Organization or was capturing communications directly from the Trump Organization.” Other major news organizations in the U.S. have not made that jump either. A reporter from the Washington Post said Sunday that they’ve pushed their sources, but not confirmed this. Instead, it’s Mensch, the BBC and the Guardian newspaper – all from across the Atlantic. That has some on this side of the pond wondering what is up.

One thing to stress: Should be a HUGE red flag that all the Trump/FISA stories are from British reporters with limited natsec backgrounds…

6. What about the FBI? Comey sends a Sunday message. If you believe that there was a wiretap or other surveillance of the Trump Campaign in 2016, then all signs point back to the FBI and Director James Comey as being in charge of that effort. Comey said nothing in public, but the New York Times reported Sunday afternoon that the FBI Director feels the President’s allegation is false, and has asked the Justice Department to publicly reject the charge. Democrats swiftly noted that Comey didn’t seem to wait to talk when it came to Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 campaign, just one of the subtexts to this whole battle, as both parties have had reason to love and hate the FBI Director in recent months.

7. Republicans in Congress puzzled by Trump charge. Most GOP lawmakers stayed dead silent on both Saturday and Sunday about the latest Trump kerfuffle, venturing on to social media only to tweet about high school and college basketball, local dance contests, and other items that had nothing to do with anything named Russia. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) urged Trump to reveal his sources for his charge. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) agreed, saying the Trump “allegation has serious implications.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been briefed by the FBI Director on the probe of Russian interference in the U.S. elections, said flatly, he didn’t know what President Trump was talking about.

8. Trump was reported to be angry about the wiretap. There was no shortage of reports over the weekend about the President’s mood, which was said to be one of frustration and anger, believing in his heart that he was wrongly under law enforcement surveillance in 2016. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that “Trump has repeatedly told people throughout today that he is convinced he’s right re wiretaps.” Others reported Trump had gone ballistic on Friday before he left for Mar-a-Lago, angered that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from any probe related to Russia and the elections.

Trump is angry in Florida. I’m told he fumed to friends at golf course yesterday about Obama, insisting he’s right about wiretap.

9. White House asks Congress to investigate Trump claim. The White House waited over 24 hours to finally comment on the tweets of the boss, as Press Secretary Sean Spicer issued a statement that asked the Congress to investigate the President’s claim that he had been wiretapped by the Obama Administration in 2016. The White House phrased it this way, asking “whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.” Spicer then flatly said the White House and the President would have no further comment on the matter. Soon after, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who served on the Trump Transition team, agreed to take up the matter.

10. This story is not going away soon. Congress will get a shot at this issue on Tuesday, when confirmation hearings take place for two top nominees at the Justice Department. Normally, reporters wouldn’t take that big of an interest in the hearings for the Deputy Attorney General and an Associate Attorney General. But with Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself on matters related to Russia investigations, the two nominees are certain to be asked about the Russia investigations matter, and most likely quizzed by Democrats on whether they would support a special counsel probe to handle it.

I'll use every possible tool to block DOJ Deputy AG nominee unless he commits to appoint independent special prosecutor

11. What’s the bottom line? No matter whether you believe or don’t believe the President’s electric charge that he had been targeted with a wiretap during his campaign for the White House, the request by the Trump Administration for the allegations to be reviewed by Congress only insures that even more attention gets paid to the underlying issue – did associates of the President have contacts with Russia and possibly Russian intelligence agents? This would seem to be something that the White House would rather not spur renewed interest in – but that’s what happened. Whether it’s on Twitter, or in person, we’ll see when the President speaks out. Yes, there are other issues, but this Russia stuff just keeps chugging along.

So, the WH just dared Congress to… look into how many campaign people were tight with the Russians? This is an unusual strategy.